Separated by just one place in the league table, Feyenoord and Vitesse square off at De Kuip on Saturday in round 19 of the 2021-22 Eredivisie season.
Both teams ended 2021 on a winning note and will be looking to pick up where they left off in their first outing of the new year.
Match preview
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Off the back of a 2-0 defeat to defending champions Ajax, Feyenoord returned to winning ways with a 3-0 triumph over Heerenveen on December 22.
Goals from Guus Til, Marcos Senesi and Bryan Linssen propelled Arne Slot's men to victory at the Abe Lenstra Stadion.
De Stadionclub remain in third place, four points adrift of current leaders PSV Eindhoven in what is shaping up to be one of the most exciting title races in Dutch football.
Lying in store next is the challenge of an opposing side who are yet to lose any of the last five meetings between the teams dating back to 2019.
After a 1-0 defeat in October's reverse fixture, revenge will be on the agenda for Saturday's hosts as they set out to pull further away in the standings.
Vitesse claimed a fourth successive victory at the GelreDome when they saw off the threat of PEC Zwolle three Tuesdays ago.
Lois Openda was the match winner in Arnhem as he opened the scoring two minutes into the second half to hand Thomas Letsch's men all three points.
Vitas are now unbeaten in their last eight outings across all competitions, picking up 11 of 15 league points in that time, which has seen them move up to fourth.
Only Ajax have amassed more points on the road this term than Saturday's visitors, who seek to complete a league double over their hosts.
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Team News
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Feyenoord's Cyriel Dessers is currently away on international duty with Nigeria at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations and will not take part this weekend.
Twenty-two-year-old Luis Sinisterra is also unavailable for the home side as he continues to struggle with a knee injury.
Denzel Hall and Gernot Trauner are also absentees for this weekend's game as they remain out with muscle and hamstring problems.
Lois Openda was at the double in the reverse fixture and is one to keep an eye on having scored seven times in his last eight appearances.
Goalkeeper Daan Reiziger is yet to feature for Vitesse this term due to a long-term wrist injury.
Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Bijlow; Malacia, Senesi, Geertruida, Pedersen; Kokcu, Aursnes, Til; Nelson, Linssen, Jahanbakhsh
Vitesse possible starting lineup:
Houwen; Rasmussen, Doekhi, Bazoer; Dasa, Bero, Tronstad, Huisman, Wittek; Openda, Frederiksen
We say: Feyenoord 2-1 Vitesse
The sides boast a plethora of attacking talent within their ranks, so we expect goals at both ends, That said, we fancy Feyenoord to get the job done, albeit by only a narrow margin.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Feyenoord win with a probability of 53.38%. A win for Vitesse had a probability of 24.42% and a draw had a probability of 22.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Feyenoord win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.71%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.18%) and 2-0 (7.86%). The likeliest Vitesse win was 1-2 (6.24%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.1%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 5.3% likelihood.
